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Wisconsin Arts Board to be cut by 66%

The state Legislature’s budget-writing committee voted Wednesday to cut the budget for the Wisconsin Arts Board, which provides funds for artists and arts groups throughout the state, by 66%.

Gov. Scott Walker had proposed cutting funding to the arts board by 73%, but the Joint Finance Committee voted to restore up to $175,000 annually, depending on whether there are matching funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“While it is a painful outcome, I am thrilled at the bi-partisan support, that both Democrats and Republicans voted to restore funding,” said Anne Katz, executive director of Arts Wisconsin, a statewide advocacy group. “They are making extremely difficult decisions, and they haven’t been doing very much of that.”

The arts board had recommended that the budget be trimmed by a more modest 10%. It argued, in a joint letter, that the arts board is the only agency that supports the state’s cultural infrastructure by providing grants and about 10,000 hours of expert consulting each year.

The committee also voted to fold the arts board into the Department of Tourism, though it allowed the board to maintain its authority to hire or fire an executive director, giving the group some autonomy within Tourism. Six of the 10 arts board staff will be let go as a result of the cuts.

“The people who are being let go, there is a lot of knowledge and wisdom in that group,” Katz said.

The committee also voted to eliminate the state’s Percent-for-Art public art program, which has been in place since 1980 and required that .2% of significant capital projects be spent on public art.

“That program provided jobs for artists,” Katz said. “If over time Wisconsin is not a place where creative people can make a living, they’ll find other places to live.”

Overall funding for the arts would drop from $1.6 million to $535,000 a year. Wisconsin ranks among the lowest in the country for state funding of the arts per capita, Katz said.

About Mary Louise Schumacher

Mary Louise Schumacher is the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic. She writes about culture, design, the urban landscape and Milwaukee's creative community. Art City is her award-winning cultural page and a community of more than 20 contributing writers and artists.

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